The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday declared all four NDA candidates from Andhra Pradesh as elected unanimously to Rajya Sabha after the completion of nomination withdrawal. The four candidates — three from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and one from the Jana Sena Party (JSP) — were elected unopposed as only they remained in the fray for the four vacant seats from the state.
Elected Candidates
The elected candidates are Bhashyam Ramakrishna, Chintakayakala Vijay and Sana Satish from TDP, and Lingamaneni Ramesh of JSP. JSP, which has two members in Lok Sabha, has finally opened its account in the Upper House of Parliament with the election of Lingamaneni Ramesh. Meanwhile, TDP, which has two members in Rajya Sabha, has increased its tally to four after the latest election. Sitting member Sana Satish was renominated to the Upper House.
Announcement and Process
Returning officer R Vanitha Rani announced their election on Thursday. Earlier, the EC had found the nominations of all four candidates as valid after scrutiny. It issued a notification to fill four vacant seats on June 1 and set June 8 as the deadline for the filing of papers. After consultations with alliance partners, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu decided to take three seats for the party and spare one for JSP. BJP was asked to wait for the next cycle of RS election for its quota as it had already taken two seats in the previous round.
Background
TDP was left without representation in Rajya Sabha for the first time since its inception before the last general elections, as all 11 seats from AP were snatched by YSRCP during its regime. Soon after the poll debacle in 2024, four members of YSRCP — Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, V Vijaysai Reddy, R Krishnaiah, and Bida Mastan Rao — quit the party and gave up their membership in Rajya Sabha. While Mastan Rao joined TDP, Krishnaiah joined BJP and got re-elected in the by-election. TDP member Sana Satish filled the vacancy caused by Venkata Ramana, and BJP leader Paka Venkata Satyanarayana got Vijaysai Reddy’s seat. YSRCP will have four members — YV Subbareddy, Meda Raghunatha Reddy, Golla Baburao, and S Niranjan Reddy in Rajya Sabha after the current cycle of election.
